Colonial River Investments LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 71.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,384 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,080 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of Colonial River Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $522.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $496.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $438.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.